Celebrating Labor Day with Maryland workers who support the state's food industry

While many recognize Labor Day as the unofficial end of summer, the Department of Labor says it's a day to celebrate American workers and their contributions to the country's prosperity and strength.

That includes Maryland, where jobs on both land and water help drive two of the state's largest industries: agriculture and seafood.

WJZ's Ashley Paul spent time with workers on Harford County farmland and out on the Chesapeake Bay to hear their stories.

Fishing in the Chesapeake Bay

Many don't give much thought to where their food comes from. But Steven Lay knows exactly where the catfish in his sandwich came from—he caught it himself.

"If you dread that alarm clock going off in the morning, you ought to go find another job," Lay said. "You want to be waking up before that alarm clock goes off with anticipation of catching whatever you're targeting."

Each day, Lay is out on the Chesapeake by 6 a.m. 

"Starts out in the evening around 6–6:30, I go out and set my lines out," he said. "Trout lines, baited hooks every 25 feet on the line. I use eel for my bait. And they set overnight, go back at about 6 in the morning right before sunrise and begin bringing them in, taking the fish off them."

According to state archives, the seafood industry contributes $600 million to Maryland's economy each year. Lay has been part of that industry ever since he started fishing with his father as a kid.

Sixty years later, he's still doing it seven days a week, on the water and off.

"You've got gear to take care of, you've got the boat to fuel up, bait to prepare, marketing to do," he said. "So it's several hours more a day than just being out on the boat," Lay said.

The work is also physically demanding. 

"I wear a back brace 24 hours a day almost," Lay said. "It's definitely a lot of physical labor and these days it's very hard to find help let alone try to get into the business because it is a lot of physical work and early morning hours and nothing is always 8–4."

Farming: Long days, lasting rewards

Back on land, Steve Weber faces similar challenges at Weber's Cider Mill Farm.

"We work with our hands, and we work on these trees, we prune them in the winter," Weber said. "We prune and pray…"

He is the third generation in a family of farmers, helping power Maryland's $8 billion agriculture industry—the largest in the state.

"There's not a better place to grow up than a farm," he said. "Teaches responsibility, you appreciate what work is."

His team tends to 50 acres of peaches, apples, strawberries, blueberries and more.

"The strawberries we're planting today, we hope we're picking in June," Weber said. "It is year round."

That means long days.

"I was here last night 'til 8 o'clock moving irrigation pipe," he said. "Some things have to get done, every time you do something… and we get to see it. When you work in an office or on an assembly line, you don't know what's happening down that way. We're here from the beginning to the finish. It is a good feeling."

That's what keeps both men going—seeing their hard work pay off.

"Sometimes you have to resist jumping up and down and cheering," Weber said.

"Like a little kid at Christmas," Lay added. "It's a new adventure every day."

And for both, it's about more than a paycheck.

"It's really not that bad," Weber said. "What is hard? Lifting? People are paying to do that at the gym. It's gratifying, I love it, I am not going to stop."

"I don't know that mentally I'll ever want to quit," Lay said. "But I'll get to a point where I just physically can't do the work anymore. But I may just be a captain and point my fingers to somebody else, I don't know."